List Of Best USB Sticks & Drive What You Can Buy For Your Windows To Go Installation

Report Data Collected On: 1/Nov/2018

Windows to Go, announced back in 2011, is a feature in the Enterprise Editions of Windows 8, Windows 8.1, and Windows 10, that allows them to run and boot up from (certain) USB devices.

Upfront, this doesn’t offer you as much freedom as the other Live Operating System because it was never meant to be a portable option supplanting those already on the market (Although it can be used as a USB boot in a pinch).

It is instead more focused on providing support and resources for alternative workplace scenarios. It’s unmistakably and unapologetically designed for office use.

It offers some of the advantages of a Live Operating System, with a few glaring exceptions, the biggest of which is that your internal drives will be turned off by default so that you work out of the USB and only out of the USB storage.

When we discussed Windows-To-Go, we pointed out some of the options you had to take your Windows installation around with you in your pocket.

And, you might remember, some of those options involve using drives that are specifically configured for Windows-To-Go installs.

These drives are approved directly by Microsoft, have passed all their tests to earn the certification, and are rigged for maximum compatibility.

However, since these things aren’t exactly common out there in the wide world, here’s our usual list to help you find what’s best for you based on what you need.

So, Let’s See How Many Best Windows To Go Certified USB Sticks Are Available In The Market:

Top 3rd – WD My Passport Enterprise 500GB with Windows To Go

USB Type: USB 3.0

Capacity: 500GB

Warranty: 2 Year

Color: Black

Encryption: Yes

Approx. Price: 109$

Short Review:WD on another one of our top lists again, yawn. Color me not at all shocked. For those who remember the original WTG article, we actually reference this exact model, being that this is one of the most reliable 500 GB models that’s certified for Windows-To-Go, allowing installation of both the Operating System itself as well as any number of extra applications that you may need, and still have enough space leftover for the files that you need to work with and save into the drive.

Well, that’s just the tip of the iceberg;

The drive comes with the WD Compass Utility, which makes set up a breeze to go through. The My Passport Enterprise is the highest-capacity among all three on this list, and it is specifically targeted at professionals, who will need to keep up with modern demands of a more and more mobile workforce, where you get numerous benefits from a bring-your-own-device-and-Operating-System attitude.

Since settings, programs and preferences travel with you, and so do all the files that are saved from the programs into the disk.

For those who need that extra oomph, you can simply use a second (maybe even higher-capacity) drive to store your data files in. Since professionals usually carry around a decent amount of tech with them (I run a tech blog, which is at most tangential to being in the tech business itself, and yet I have a laptop, two thumb drives and a 500GB Toshiba External in my bag no matter where I go), this won’t put any serious dent in your mobility.

As the products demographic are corporate personnel, WD understands that security is a concern, and they’ve got your back. The Enterprise 500 GB comes with full support of BitLocker full disk encryption, and apart from the fact that Windows-To-Go prevents data transfers to the host computer’s internal drives, The Enterprise will separate itself from the PC’s internal drives, minimizing data disclosure.

As a result, no trace of the OS or the drive’s data is left on the host computer itself, which is a big plus for office environments.

Top 2nd – Super Talent USB 3.0 Flash Drive

USB Type: USB 3.0

Capacity: 32GB, 64GB, 128GB & 256GB

Warranty: 3 Year

Color: White

Encryption: Yes

Price: 180$ (128GB)

Short Review:Super Talent claims to have “the Best Memory” in the business, and while this may be an exaggeration, there’s no question that their WTG certified Express RC4 is one of the best options available for portable OS right now.

It is the complete opposite of the WD Enterprise, and while it is available in capacities ranging from 32 GB to 256 GB, its ultimate selling point is the near SSD transfer speed, at 320 MBps read and 300 MBps write, this tiny drive is a raging racehorse, and it can boot Windows in about six seconds on average and less than ten seconds at the most.

Let that sink in for the second; you’re essentially buying a super fast SSD to speed up your PC. A built-in SSD controller inside the drive regulates its performance, keeping things uniform and fast during all situations.

The thing is built specifically to be beyond the requirements Microsoft demands from drives for WTG certification (Super Talent might be worth keeping an eye on: these guys have “overachiever” written all over them), and as such require a USB 3.0 to function to its full potential.

It can interface with 2.0 ports, though at the much slower transfer speeds, capped by the outdated 2.0 tech’s limitations.

The design is utilitarian rather than stylish, with a rounded-box shape and a bracket at the back on which you can attach a lanyard from your belt or snap the cap on to when using the drive so that the cap isn’t lost.

Top 1st – Kingston’s IronKey™ W700

Short Review:The Kingston Ironkey got a mention in our guide for buying pendrives for their data security options, and that’s what gets them the top spot here.

Hardware based encryption is always the most difficult to get around, and Kingston offers their peerless 256-bit XTS AES encryption along with FIPS 140-2 Level 3 validation.

If that last one makes your head spin, don’t worry about it; the gist of it is that it is on par with the Federal Information Processing Standard, which is a computer security standard used to approve and categorize cryptography modules.

There are four levels, the fourth of which is used to protect highest-of-the-high security government data, and Kingston is offering close to that (level 3) for civilian use.

The W700 offers everything the Super Talent RC4 does – and more besides;

The aforementioned strictest security measures aside, it offers 32 GB to 128 GB capacity and then goes on to show off with a Read/Write speed of 400 MBps/300MBps.

Solidly built, dust-resistant, shock-resistant, waterproof up to three feet, and all of it covered by Kingston’s five-year warranty without fuss.

For large offices and organizations that may have to use hundreds of these drives for secure data like IDs and the like, each of these units comes with an optional feature called IronKey EMS, which will allow an authorized administrator to manage access and usage policies for hundreds or even thousands of W700 devices at a single go.

Security doesn’t come any better than that, at least not on this side of the civilian market.

So, from personal 500 GB big boys to the tiny super-secure monsters, that’s our basic rundown on the top 3 Windows To Go Drives for you. Stay tuned for more! – So, what will you pick, if you wanted one for yourself? Let me know in the comments below:

Happy Shopping!!!

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My name is Madhur Taneja and I’m a Computer Hardware Engineer and I proudly love to teach about computer software & hardware repairing stuffs. My hobby is blogging about computer problems solutions and I'm also doing some social work by helping my website's guest users to fix their problem by deskdecode's technical support page.